Hiker: Rescue Was “Like A Movie”

One of the four hikers rescued from Yosemite´s Ansel Adams Wilderness describes yesterday´s rescue as dramatic.

Britt Jefferson tells N-B-C´s “Today” show this morning that seeing the rescue helicopter come over the horizon was “like a movie.”

The group of experienced backpacker were stranded in what they described as “miserable” conditions during Tuesday´s storm.

They used an insulated red pad and handkerchiefs to get the attention of rescuers yesterday.

Jefferson says his heart was pounding when he saw a captain drop out of the copter and into the snowbank to retrieve him.

He says: “To be honest, I didn´t think I´d see my family again.”

Another member of the group, Jeff Peacock, says that while stranded they were

“just sitting in the tents staying warm” knowing that eventually they´d be found.

He describes the experience as “boring most of all.”